The present invention relates to an apparatus for applying a massaging effect to the body of a user.
Massage is a time-honored and generally effective therapy for muscular injuries, strains and general soreness but, although massage is still recommended by many physicians for such purposes, this therapy is largely unavailable due to a scarcity of trained, qualified masseurs As a result, many devices and apparatus have been proposed in the past for producing a massage-like manipulation of a user's body by mechanically or electrically-generated vibrations or pulsations, usually accompanied by heating. In addition, massage-simulative devices utilizing pulsations of pressurized water have recently become popular, such as pulsation-type shower heads, whirlpool baths, and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,919 discloses another form of massaging apparatus wherein multiple pulsation-type shower heads are mounted for longitudinal movement back-and-forth within a water-tight enclosed lid pivoted to a horizontal bench for movement into and out of overlying relation to a user on the bench to provide the advantage of applying a massaging effect to the user's entire body without requiring the user to disrobe.